In yesterday's KHA Health e-News, there was an Op-ed by Tom Jones that appeared in Monday's Lexington Herald. Mr. Jones is a managed care insurance consultant in Hopkinsville. In the op-ed, Jones explains the nature of many critical factors that will be a deciding factor in whether or not Kynect will be successful. These include the sheer number of unhealthy and poor Kentuckians; the insufficient number of doctors to serve the population; the lack of primary-care physicians, and therefore, the likelihood that patients will continue to seek care as they always have--in the local hospital's emergency department.

Every Kentucky hospital administrator should read the op-ed available via the hyperlink above.

December 15, 2014. Enroll by December 15 for new coverage that begins on January 1, 2015. If a patient’s plan is changing or if they want to change plans, they must enroll by December 15 to avoid a lapse in coverage.

December 31, 2014. Coverage ends for 2014 plans. Coverage for 2015 plans can start as soon as January 1, 2015.

February 15, 2015. The last day people can apply for 2015 coverage before the end of Open Enrollment.

Over the past several months, the Department of Health and Human Services has been busy issuing rules and guidance for the 2015 plan year for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance marketplaces and Medicare Advantage. These are complex rules and guidance, and the implications for hospitals and hospital systems as caregivers, employers and, in some cases, insurers will vary.

The American Hospital Association has issued a Regulatory Advisory which features a compendium of the key rules and guidance. It provides a brief summary, identifies key hospital-related issues and includes web links to associated regulatory documents.

In letters to the AHA and the Catholic Health Association (CHA) of the U.S., Secretary Kathleen Sebelius confirmed that payments from private, not-for-profit foundations to qualified health plans (QHPs) on behalf of individuals who enroll in coverage via the Health Insurance Marketplaces are not prohibited. The clarification came in response to a request from the AHA and CHA that she confirm HHS was not discouraging hospital-affiliated or other charitable foundations from subsidizing premiums or cost-sharing expenses. A recent rule related...

According to Governor Steve Beshear's website, 321,932 Kentuckians have enrolled via the state health insurance exchange, kynect, as of March 21. Eighty percent of those enrollees (257,477) however will be added to the Medicaid program and not purchasing private insurance.

Only 64,455 people have signed up for private health insurance so far. Of those, the most popular plan level is Silver (41 percent) – the level of coverage tied to federal subsidies. The second most popular level is Platinum (28 percent), which provides the most coverage. Seventeen percent of enrollees chose the Gold level and 11 percent chose Bronze.